BakedBeans said:
Know much about the history of football do you?
Yes, a hell of a lot.
^look, it isn' hard to be a patronising so 'n' so is it?^
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BakedBeans said:
They have been a very successful club throughout history, not just the last couple of years.
FleurDuMal said:
And what about everything they won before the match fixing? They've been a succesful club for many, many decades now.
Did you watch the World Cup Final on BBC1? In the pre-match build-up they interviewed Gianluca Vialli, and asked for his opinion on the Serie A scandal. He was asked whether the match-fixing scandal came as a suprise to him.
He smiled & said:
"Look, there has always been something a little funny about the goings on in Serie A". [I might be paraphrasing slightly - can't remember exactly]
If you are naive enough to think that corruption in Serie A has only ever occurred in the '04-'05 & '05-'06 seasons, then might I suggest that
you are the one who "doesn't know the history of football".
The scandal taints far more that just the results of the past 2 seasons. Or, to put it another way:
XIII said:
It's very possible they just haven't been caught match fixing until now.. God knows how long its been going on.
Maybe you should read up on the details of the case, because if you did then you would see just how far up Serie A this corruption goes, and how deeply embedded it seems to have been.
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Match fixing is the worst crime that a club can commit. In many senses it's even worse than hooliganism. It is an intentional attempt to devalue and debase the most beautiful competitive sport in the world. It is a disgrace.
The punishments were certainly not too harsh. If anything AC Milan's punishment is too lenient - though it's hardly suprising, seeing as how the club president is Silvio Berlusconi, one of the most powerful men in Italy.
I used to really like Italian football. I still remember watching the old "Gazetta Football Italia" on Channel 4 on Saturday mornings. And I was always impressed at the quite spectacular quality of football on display - which far outshone what we had in the Premiership.
But for all Serie A's quality, it is difficult to have much respect for Serie A as a competitive league right now. And that is the fault of Juventus, Lazio, Fiorentia & AC Milan (and I'm sure some individuals). And for that, it is right that they are punished. Hard.
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BakedBeans said:
Even then, they were not fixing games, just influencing which ref they had.
I sincerely hope that's a joke.
BakedBeans, if you can so easily overlook the gravity of this cheating, then I really must question your moral fibre.
Honesty is always more important than winning. It's a shame that not everyone seems to agree.